Jack and Djinn (The Houri Legends, #1)(31)

Miriam leaped off the bed, pressing herself against the wall, holding the bed sheet in front of her. “We both know I did, Ben, so let’s not play games. I’m a freak, I know. Now answer the goddamn question! Who the hell is this, Ben?” She repeated the question, yelling it this time.

Ben flushed, and she saw him searching for answers. “This is…this is Rachel. Uh, she’s—she’s a friend of mine.”

Rachel planted a hand on her hip, angry. “A friend? I’m a friend now? What the hell, Ben? I’m your girlfriend. What is she doing in our bed?”

Rachel’s high-pitched, whining voice grated on Miriam’s nerves, and she felt the anger begin to burn again, ever hotter, threatening to reignite the magic. Now that she’d felt it, and seen it, Miriam could understand the power within her more clearly; she wanted to grasp it, let the anger set fire to her and burst through her and consume this irritating girl, and Ben along with her.

“Your girlfriend?” Miriam stalked around the bed and picked up her clothes, putting them on quickly and angrily. “Your girlfriend, Ben? If she’s your girlfriend, then what the f*ck am I?”

Ben opened his mouth to answer, but Rachel cut him off. “Oh, I know who you are. You’re Miriam, aren’t you?” Rachel smirked, cruelty and amusement glittering in her eyes as she pronounced the next words. “You’re his booty call. Isn’t that right, Ben? He’s mentioned you before. You’re the one he goes to for a little extra somethin’ on the side when I’m busy. Isn’t that right?” Rachel turned away and pulled open the bottom drawer of Ben’s dresser, rummaged around, and produced a change of clothes.

She had her own drawer? Miriam’s anger went cold for a moment, stung by the apparent truth in Rachel’s words. Ben’s mouth was flapping, for once at a loss for words. “I—It’s not quite like that, Rachel….” he said. He wouldn’t look at either girl, but instead he edged to the dresser, opened a drawer, and put on a pair of gym shorts.

“It’s not, huh?” Rachel stalked up to Ben, poking a finger in his chest. “That’s what you told me. You said Miriam was just a side-f*ck. Is it something else, Ben? Is she something more serious? ’Cause that’s not what you told me.”

Miriam was disgusted. Not only did Ben obviously have another girlfriend, but that girl knew about Miriam and found nothing wrong with the idea of Ben having sex with someone else, as long as it wasn’t “serious.”

But she hadn’t known anything about this Rachel. Although now that she thought about it, Ben did spend a lot of time sending text messages he never bothered to explain. Miriam had always just assumed they were to his Corps buddies or something.

“So what is it, Ben? Am I just something on the side?” Miriam asked. She was fighting tears, grasping desperately for anger to strengthen herself.

Ben looked from one woman to the other, caught between the two. Miriam watched him struggle for answers. Sure enough, his eyes glazed over, and the vein in his forehead started throbbing. He would retreat into anger now. It was the only way he knew how to deal with situations he couldn’t control.

“Back off, both of you,” he said, voice low and dangerous. “I don’t owe either of you shit. Rachel, I’m taking you home. Come on.”

“Why doesn’t she go home?” Rachel whined. “I’m already here—I might as well stay. She can leave.”

Ben growled and pushed Rachel out the door, snatching up his keys and phone with a string of curses. “Come on, Rachel. Let’s go. Now.” He turned back to Miriam and started to say something, but changed his mind.

Miriam watched from the window as Ben held the car door open for Rachel, kissing her as he started the car, laughing at something she said. Ben never held the door for her. Never kissed her, or laughed with her. So she was just “something extra on the side”? Miriam felt anger rush back with tidal force. She stuffed her feet into her shoes and stormed out of Ben’s apartment, slamming the door so hard it shook the entryway windows.

Thunder rumbled, and a flash of lightning lit the night sky; drops of rain pelted Miriam, followed by a torrential downpour that soaked her to the skin in moments.

She barely noticed, lost in thought, consumed by rage. A side-f*ck? Everything she put up with, and he was screwing someone else? And she had her own drawer in Ben’s apartment? The drawer itself was beside the point; what had Miriam’s breath coming in ragged, raging gasps was the fact that Rachel knew about Miriam. Ben had talked about her to Rachel. He’d probably told Rachel all about her, including everything Miriam had ever said in confidence. They probably laughed at her together, in Ben’s bed, making fun of stupid, clueless Miriam.

The anger was hot inside Miriam, a river of fire in her veins. She could feel the magic boiling, ready to burst. Miriam had no thought for anything except Ben and his betrayal of her. Did he hit Rachel, too? Or was that just for Miriam? The way he’d held the door for Rachel: Even when he’d pushed her out the door he’d done it more gently than he’d ever treated Miriam in his kindest moments.

She was full of rage. White-hot, all-consuming rage. At Ben, yes, but at herself most of all for putting up with him for so long, for wasting so much of her life on him, for believing his lies, for never believing she deserved better. Especially when someone like Jack was waiting for her, wanting her, willing to fight for her.